I feel hopeless short of breathe CONSTANTLY

[Raerae997]

Well, I'm 18 years old and I've been dealing with generalized anxiety and panic disorder for the last 10 months. This symptom has to be my scariest and I'm honestly not sure if it is anxiety which is freaking me out even more. I'm constantly and when I mean constantly I mean it short of breathe. I am not breathing how I should it has been like this for 2 months straight and I've officially had enough I feel like I can't catch my breathe ever and every breathe is shallow. I have been to the doctors plenty of times have had ekgs, chest X-rays and even a ct scan which have all came back clear as well as blood work. The doctors have no idea what it could be which scares me that they're missing something huge. They gave me an inhaler because they said it could be asthma but I found it gave me no relief. The only thing I could possibly think is I have GERD really bad and I wonder if the acid is pressing up against my lungs making it so it's hard to breathe? I just recently started taking Prilosec so if that's the case I hope it starts getting better soon but I would think GERD wouldn't cause constant short of breathe.  I feel hopeless, what could it possibly be? Am I just aware of my breathing and not doing it consciously that's why it's like that? Has anyone dealt with this and can offer advice? my patents think I'm crazy when I say I'm always short of breathe but it's so real!

[Raerae997]

The doctors don't believe anything is wrong, they told me today in kind of an annoying tone they did extensive examining on me and would have found something, especially with the CT scan. I have been giving an inhaler and it did nothing. She kept mentioning how my blood oxygen was normal and to talk to a psychiatrist.. She did say I may have POTS syndrome which said it could cause shortness of breathe but not all the time. She doesn't even believe the GERD could cause it either.  it is myself who believes it is something terrible because i have this feeling constantly. I'm already taking lexapro 5mg but I haven't seen my psychistrist in a while so I think I should definitely up my dose.

[AnxiousNoMore]

The medical professionals say there is nothing wrong. You have no medical training but THINK they are wrong.

Here is the key.to your problem, " it is myself who believes it is something terrible because...."

Because you won't accept their diagnosis, the only place you can go for information is googling symptoms, which Riss223 explained  earlier can only cause anxiety. Google can find a person who died from any symptom - people have even died from a thumbtack in the hand causing a clot that traveled to the brain.
It may not be easy for you to accept the doctor's diagnosis, but lots of people have been in your position and found a way to accept the diagnosis and got over their anxiety.

[Riss223]

I too have had similar issues. I however got so stressed I got gastritis. I called my doctor online and she said to take prilosec as well. She also mentiond gerd symptoms. I took it for 10 days to get my stomach acid levels back to normal. I think this is mainly caused by stress and anxiety. Whenever I feel a symptom I know I google it and get scared. If youre having similar issues I would suggest relaxing for a week or two and not think about your anxiety. Write, draw, or execise maybe to put your focus some place else. If you still feel bad, then you can go back to a doc to see if they can help.

[Raerae997]

Thank you to those who gave me breathing advice! I have been working on it when waking and noticed a difference today.  

Well I went to the doctors my blood oxygen was 98 & my doctor said I had extensive work done that it cannot possibly be my lungs and it was most likely psychological until she saw how my heart rate is very high all the time. She said all my ekgs are good but she did a test where they checked my pulse while laying down, then sitting and then standing and noticed the increase and diagnosed me with POTS syndrome where you get lightheaded and heart rate accelerates upon standing. I'm also getting a heart monitor to view how fast it goes when sleep. My doctor honestly thinks having a heart monitor is unnecessary and thinks it is still anxiety related but she's ordering it just to be safe but thinks after so many ekgs and me being 18 it won't find anything abnormal.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Please elaborate on this. "The doctors have no idea what it could be which scares me that they're missing something huge."

Do they think you have a breathing problem or is it only you? Sometimes they prescribe something to make worried people get a placebo effect which if it works, effectively means you think you are cured of a problem with the script (inhaler in your case), when you had no problem in  the beginning. Can you explain if the doctors said you have a breathing problem they can't figure out, or if they just said they can't figure anything is wrong with you?

[TheLightSeeker]

I urge you to look into the Buteyko Breathing Method
which can help you normalize your breathing again.
This alone can make a dramatic difference in your life!
I hope you have the determination to complete this program,
once you check it out and discover that it can correct chronic hyperventilation and improve most of the symptoms caused by (incorrect) breathing-related conditions.
The normal breathing website contains over 400 pages of valuable information, including free exercises you can try.
In time your anxiety symptoms should subside, including your GERD symptoms, which are likely due to your GAD.
Hope this helps,
Niko

[Paxiled]

Don't think it's GERD.  If the above method doesn't work there are many types of abdominal breathing exercises that might.  Many are taught by the same people who teach meditation and yoga.